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Stranger Things Season 2 Had Too Many 'Grand Ideas'

The Duffer brothers had so many good ideas for Stranger Things season 2, that they had to shelve some. The first season of Netflix's '80s themed sci-fi show saw Will Byers being abducted by a Demagorgan and spending time in the Upside Down, while Eleven, a young girl who was being held as part of a scientific experiment, made her way into our world and became friends with Will's classmates. With a strong ensemble cast, great plotlines and outstanding direction from Matt and Ross Duffer, Stranger Things was renewed for a second season, set to arrive on the streaming service this Fall.

We already know some of plotlines that Stranger Things will examine in its second season. This includes seeing the effect that the Upside Down has had on Will, who was seen vomiting slugs at the end of last season. Eleven is hiding someplace, Sheriff Hopper is leaving Eggos out in the woods for her, and there are new monsters lurking. The Hawkins National Laboratory is now under new management, though our guess is there's still a lot of sinister goings on up there.

In an interview with Mashable, executive producer Shawn Levy talked about Stranger Things season two, including the fact that the Duffer brothers had so many ideas for the season, that some have been saved for (hopefully) future seasons:

“As the episodes were written by (the Duffer Brothers), they realized that there was too much story for nine episodes. So it forced us to be judicious in which stories we tell this season. So one of the surprises was, not all of our grand ideas are going to be serviced in one season…If we had 40 ideas going into the season, 30 (we) are going to pick, and the rest go in the back of our head for, hopefully, future chapters."

Though the plot of Stranger Things is undoubtedly what got people watching in the first place, viewers stayed based on the strength of the cast; especially the young kids who are at the center of it all. Levy confirmed that Will (Noah Schnapp) is very much at the center of the second season, and added that the show will continue to root itself in character:

“As much density of story as our show has, we have to service the characters — and the moments and relationships between characters — above everything. If we stop being character-anchored, and we become pure genre, I think we take the beating heart out of Stranger Things, and we take the thing that people maybe don’t write articles about the most, but I think it’s what they love the most — these characters on screen.”

Levy is correct; while most articles focus on what's to come in terms of plot, it really is a character-driven show. Season one provided many moments of light relief, as well as lots of emotionally heavy scenes between the whole cast, which is a big part of the show's charm. Going forward, it's good to see that the Duffer brothers are acutely aware of this, so much so that they know it's better to save some plotlines for a later date in order that the characters they've created, and the cast that play them, can shine.